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Transition metal-carbon hybrids have been proposed as efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media. Herein, effective HER electrocatalysts based on metal-carbon composites are prepared by controlled pyrolysis of resin containing a variety of heavy metals. For the first time, Cr2 O3 nanoparticles of 3-6 nm in diameter homogeneously dispersed in the resulting porous carbon framework (Cr-C hybrid) is synthesized as efficient HER electrocatalyst. Electrochemical measurements show that Cr-C hybrids display a high HER activity with an onset potential of -49 mV (vs reversible hydrogen electrode), a Tafel slope of 90 mV dec(-1) , a large catalytic current density of 10 mA cm(-2) at -123 mV, and the prominent electrochemical durability. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic measurements confirm that electron transfer occurs from Cr2 O3 into carbon, which is consistent with the reported metal@carbon systems. The obtained correlation between metals and HER activities may be exploited as a rational guideline in the design and engineering of HER electrocatalysts.
Zhou et al. (Thu,) studied this question.